Gangnam Style, the song and video by Psy is a satire that makes fun of the women that live in Gangnam who only date men that have nice cars and a lot of money. They're also very beautiful and they know it. The song was famous for its horse dance but the message behind the song was brilliant because it's an accurate representation of the Gangnam area.
Well, tonight was one of those Gangnam Style experiences. I was at DropTop (a Korean cafe franchise), which is not far from Shinnonhyun Station in the heart of Gangnam. I was by myself drinking an iced cafe latte while reading a book. Two girls in their early 20s then came an hour later and sat at the big, rectangular table with five seats on one side and five on the other. The table was also higher than the regular small square tables that have four chairs at each one. They sat next to each other and one friend decided to take pictures of herself. Then her friend joined in on the selfie party. They posed in many ways with the typical two-finger victory salute that Korean women always do. After about 11 pictures, I started counting. Then her friend had to use her phone and they took a lot more. I didn't say it loudly but they possibly could have heard me after I said a number after each click very subtly. When it got to 35, I finally decided that I couldn't take it any more and went home.
Appearance is #1 here and Korean women are obsessed with beauty. They're all over Instagram taking selfies. How do I know this? All you have to do is hit the search function and you'll see a Korean girl and her selfie. Sure, American women do this too but it's especially common here. They won't stop taking selfies since they get a ton of followers and get tons of attention. You can put some of the blame on men for choosing appearance over substance. But I also blame Sex and the City and movies like "Eat Pray Love" that focus on the narcissistic views of life that Korean women admire.
South Korea is the plastic surgery capital of the world. As mentioned in the article, Gangnam has 500 aesthetic centers in the world and had 980,000 operations in 2014 (20 procedures per 1,000 people). The U.S. was second at 13 per 1,000 people. Korea is the only country in the world. Korea is still one of the few developed countries that requires photos on its resumes. There has been talk about a law to ban this, but the law hasn't been introduced yet. And to be honest, I'm not sure it will be. Common plastic surgeries on the body include: double-edged eyelids, bigger eyes in general, nose jobs, and thinner jawlines.
With all of the focus on cosmetics and plastic surgery, princesses are a dime a dozen in Seoul, especially in Gangnam. They are obsessed with Louie Vuitton or Prada bags. I'm glad that I going to be married to a woman that is not high maintenance. She is a cute Korean-Chinese girl but what I love about her is that she has an amazing personality who puts Jesus above material and superficial things. She understands the real value of life, not taking 35 pictures of yourself in a cafe.
Scott Worden (The L.A./Seoul Guy)
Instagram: l.a.seoulguy
Instagram: l.a.seoulguy
I can't believe you drew such a biased, twisted conclusion like that after witnessing that one moment in a cafe. Selfies and plastic surgery do not make an entire nation a place crowded with narcissistic and high maintenance women. The girls you saw in that cafe that day probably have much more to their personalities than what you managed to conclude that day in the cafe.
ReplyDeleteJust this incident already shows they are narcissist. Other aspects of their personality just builds on this narcissism. Your comment shows you do not understand narcissism or personality disorder
DeleteHastaluego, I lived in South Korea for 17 years. When I lived in Ulsan and north of Seoul, I never thought Korean women were shallow. I just saw a lot of that shallowness in Seoul, which I lived in for 13 years.
DeleteYeah it so rude! I feel bad for those girls
DeleteYour post is so ignorant and misogynistic it's ridiculous. Do you realize that the real narcissist is you, not those innocent young ladies enjoying their weekend at a cafe? Instead of minding your own business, you secretly mocked them for taking selfies and then wrote an article online shaming them? You are embarrassing yourself.
ReplyDeleteIt is so hypocritical. You praise Korean women for their beauty but shame them for the very effort, the hours of meticulous makeup and styling required to achieve it. You sound like a typical 교포 who doesn't understand that the effort you witnessed is not an individual mental disorder, but an ingrained cultural reality (lookism) where men and women alike put great care into their appearance and social media photos.
The most revealing and arguably most misogynistic paragraph is your final one, where you praise your fiancée. Her value to you is defined purely by her contrast to the women you just spent 400 words shaming. You reduce your own partner to a prize that validates your judgmental worldview - a woman who is "not high maintenance" and conveniently confirms your superiority over the "princesses" you condemn.
The true "narcissist" is the one who believes he has the right to count a stranger’s selfies, critique their value system, and then use his own partner as a tool to further shame other women. The "real value of life," as you put it, is certainly not found in passing judgment on others' happiness.
I suggest you seek treatment for your own narcissism. 🤣